Tuesday, July 24, 2007
I Wonder If I'll Ever Ski in New Zealand...
It was hot today. The heat got me thinking about how much better I like winter around here than summer. If it's going to be hot, I need to be around a good lake, and there's just not much water out here. July and August are great months for high alpine hiking in Colorado, but they stink for just about everything else. Too hot and too dry. You know, there are people in New Zealand who are snow skiing today. I wonder if I'll ever ski in New Zealand?
Monday, July 23, 2007
Cloud Seeding
It's not an urban legend, there really is "cloud seeding" going on here in Colorado. Check out this article from the Summit Daily News.
There's Good Food in Evansville!
I returned late last night from a quick trip to Evansville, Indiana. I made many new friends at Westwood General Baptist Church and enjoyed myself a lot. Thanks to Bob, Jeff, Lloyd, Jane, Chris, Jeff and Michelle for inviting me to preach at Westwood yesterday, and for being such good hosts.
If you're ever anywhere near Evansville, Indiana, I heartily recommend checking out this restaurant. They had the best fried green tomatoes I have EVER tasted.
I was also very impressed by the beautiful new campus of the University of Southern Indiana.
Go Screaming Eagles!
If you're ever anywhere near Evansville, Indiana, I heartily recommend checking out this restaurant. They had the best fried green tomatoes I have EVER tasted.
I was also very impressed by the beautiful new campus of the University of Southern Indiana.
Go Screaming Eagles!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Book Review: God's Indwelling Presence
I haven't read anything this academically rigorous in quite a while. My brain is tired, but I hope stronger for the workout.
How much continuity is there between the Old & New Testaments? How much discontinuity is there? These are big questions in biblical theology with big implications for local church life. The answers to these questions influence the decisions churches make on issues like baptizing infants, church discipline, worship liturgies, leadership structures and church government.
In this book, James Hamilton focuses on the question of whether people in Old Testament times were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The book is a major exegetical study of John's Gospel, though it also surveys the entire scope of the biblical canon. Heavily footnoted, it often makes for laborious reading, but scholars, theologians, pastors and teachers in local churches can benefit from this study.
Hamilton earned a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, America's seed-bed of dispensationalism. Hamilton has also been heavily influenced by Dr. Craig Blaising, one of our country's most able teachers of "progressive dispensationalism" (a modified version of the classical dispensationalism taught at DTS for years).
Hamilton concludes that there is more discontinuity than continuity between the testaments when it comes to the question of whether the Holy Spirit indwells believers in either testament. Not surprising, given the influences in his theological education, but he does a more than adequate job of making his points directly from the scriptures. Hamilton concludes:
"Regeneration is not to be equated with indwelling. Regeneration happens when God gives spiritual life to a person who was previously spiritually dead. Understood this way, regeneration is possible at any time in salvation history. The Spirit indwells believers when God takes up residence in His new temple, which consists both of each individual member of Christ's body and of the community of believers as a whole. Understanding indwelling this way leads to the conclusion that this aspect of the Spirit's ministry is only possible in salvation history after jesus has put an end to all sacrifices for atonement by dying on the cross. Once Jesus makes the old covenant temple with its cult obsolete, God dwells not only with but also in His new covenant people...Indwelling does exist in the old covenant, but it is not each individual that is indwelt. In the old covenant God indwelt the temple. In the new covenant the people of God are the temple, and God dwells in them." [160, emphasis his]
As a progressively dispensastional reformed covenantal baptist evangelical Christian, I think I am in complete agreement. How about you?
God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments, James M. Hamilton, Jr., Broadman & Holman Academic, 2005, NAC Studies in Bible & Theology, Series Editor: E. Ray Clendenen
Note: I first met Jim Hamilton in June of 2001 at Southern Seminary in Louisville. He was a Ph.D. candidate at Southern while I was working toward my M.Div. and we studied Biblical Hebrew together for a while. This book was based largely upon his Ph.D. dissertation.
How much continuity is there between the Old & New Testaments? How much discontinuity is there? These are big questions in biblical theology with big implications for local church life. The answers to these questions influence the decisions churches make on issues like baptizing infants, church discipline, worship liturgies, leadership structures and church government.
In this book, James Hamilton focuses on the question of whether people in Old Testament times were indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The book is a major exegetical study of John's Gospel, though it also surveys the entire scope of the biblical canon. Heavily footnoted, it often makes for laborious reading, but scholars, theologians, pastors and teachers in local churches can benefit from this study.
Hamilton earned a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, America's seed-bed of dispensationalism. Hamilton has also been heavily influenced by Dr. Craig Blaising, one of our country's most able teachers of "progressive dispensationalism" (a modified version of the classical dispensationalism taught at DTS for years).
Hamilton concludes that there is more discontinuity than continuity between the testaments when it comes to the question of whether the Holy Spirit indwells believers in either testament. Not surprising, given the influences in his theological education, but he does a more than adequate job of making his points directly from the scriptures. Hamilton concludes:
"Regeneration is not to be equated with indwelling. Regeneration happens when God gives spiritual life to a person who was previously spiritually dead. Understood this way, regeneration is possible at any time in salvation history. The Spirit indwells believers when God takes up residence in His new temple, which consists both of each individual member of Christ's body and of the community of believers as a whole. Understanding indwelling this way leads to the conclusion that this aspect of the Spirit's ministry is only possible in salvation history after jesus has put an end to all sacrifices for atonement by dying on the cross. Once Jesus makes the old covenant temple with its cult obsolete, God dwells not only with but also in His new covenant people...Indwelling does exist in the old covenant, but it is not each individual that is indwelt. In the old covenant God indwelt the temple. In the new covenant the people of God are the temple, and God dwells in them." [160, emphasis his]
As a progressively dispensastional reformed covenantal baptist evangelical Christian, I think I am in complete agreement. How about you?
God's Indwelling Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Old & New Testaments, James M. Hamilton, Jr., Broadman & Holman Academic, 2005, NAC Studies in Bible & Theology, Series Editor: E. Ray Clendenen
Note: I first met Jim Hamilton in June of 2001 at Southern Seminary in Louisville. He was a Ph.D. candidate at Southern while I was working toward my M.Div. and we studied Biblical Hebrew together for a while. This book was based largely upon his Ph.D. dissertation.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
The Bride Fainted at the Altar
And she did it with such grace and beauty.
Yes, the bride fainted during the vows. Twice.
I officiated a wedding at 5:00pm this afternoon for a wonderful young couple who will remain nameless here. As the guests were being seated, a nice big cloud kept the afternoon sun away. But as the father of the bride gave away his daughter's hand that cloud suddenly disappeared. The wind stopped and it started getting hotter and hotter.
The Bride and Groom were very attentive as I gave the wedding message. I must have been a sight, wearing my dark blue "wedding suit" and sweating profusely in the dead-on July sunshine. I wasn't the only one bothered by the heat. I could see groomsmen with seriously dripping foreheads. Ladies in the crowd started using the wedding programs as fans. The mothers of the bride and groom looked like they were suffering greatly in their summer gowns as they looked on with sweltering smiles.
All was well until the groom got halfway through his vows. She reached for him. At first it appeared to all that she was so struck by the beauty of the moment that she couldn't resist an affectionate embrace. But when she fell into his arms before he could say "till death do us part", we all knew we were in trouble. Heatstroke.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures and watching the video for this one. She never fell to the ground, but as the second closest witness present, I attest that she fainted twice. Bridesmaids screamed. Women in the audience gasped. Some of the older men started shouting out directions. And all the while her faithful groom gently held her up and comforted her, whispering words of love and care in her ear. Someone brought a chair. Another brought a glass of water. Her mother frankly reminded us all that this had happened before, sunstroke while she was riding horses. Quite a scene. All the while, I was there, trying to keep the wedding ceremony together and get this couple married...quick.
Her second fainting spell happened just as she was saying "in sickness and in health." You couldn't hope for better drama. It was at this point that her groom insisted that she take some water and stay seated through the rest of her vows. We started over at "in sickness and in health" and after a short delay, got her through the vows.
As they exchanged the rings, she wobbled again but stayed strong. Through it all, this perfectly beautiful bride showed her character as she looked at her parents in the crowd and laughed and said "Who would have thought?"
She had fainted with grace and beauty. She laughed and allowed the audience to laugh with her. At perhaps the most significant public moment of her life, something terrible was happening to her, something beyond her control, and she handled it with humor and grace. I think that's because as a Christian she finds her identity in something so much more precious than in her appearance as a bride, beautiful as she was. I know that she had experienced the grace of God in her salvation and many other times in life. At this most important moment during her wedding day, she was able to respond to difficulty with that same grace from God and give it to all who were gathered there today. Beautiful.
She recovered quickly. The crowd cheered when I pronounced them man and wife. They cheered again more loudly when I introduced them as husband and wife for the first time. The party afterward was spectacular. The dance floor was full the entire time. And she and her new husband greeted everyone during the party and laughed and continued to display the goodness and grace of God.
Yes, she fainted at the altar. Twice. And it was a perfectly beautiful wedding.
Yes, the bride fainted during the vows. Twice.
I officiated a wedding at 5:00pm this afternoon for a wonderful young couple who will remain nameless here. As the guests were being seated, a nice big cloud kept the afternoon sun away. But as the father of the bride gave away his daughter's hand that cloud suddenly disappeared. The wind stopped and it started getting hotter and hotter.
The Bride and Groom were very attentive as I gave the wedding message. I must have been a sight, wearing my dark blue "wedding suit" and sweating profusely in the dead-on July sunshine. I wasn't the only one bothered by the heat. I could see groomsmen with seriously dripping foreheads. Ladies in the crowd started using the wedding programs as fans. The mothers of the bride and groom looked like they were suffering greatly in their summer gowns as they looked on with sweltering smiles.
All was well until the groom got halfway through his vows. She reached for him. At first it appeared to all that she was so struck by the beauty of the moment that she couldn't resist an affectionate embrace. But when she fell into his arms before he could say "till death do us part", we all knew we were in trouble. Heatstroke.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures and watching the video for this one. She never fell to the ground, but as the second closest witness present, I attest that she fainted twice. Bridesmaids screamed. Women in the audience gasped. Some of the older men started shouting out directions. And all the while her faithful groom gently held her up and comforted her, whispering words of love and care in her ear. Someone brought a chair. Another brought a glass of water. Her mother frankly reminded us all that this had happened before, sunstroke while she was riding horses. Quite a scene. All the while, I was there, trying to keep the wedding ceremony together and get this couple married...quick.
Her second fainting spell happened just as she was saying "in sickness and in health." You couldn't hope for better drama. It was at this point that her groom insisted that she take some water and stay seated through the rest of her vows. We started over at "in sickness and in health" and after a short delay, got her through the vows.
As they exchanged the rings, she wobbled again but stayed strong. Through it all, this perfectly beautiful bride showed her character as she looked at her parents in the crowd and laughed and said "Who would have thought?"
She had fainted with grace and beauty. She laughed and allowed the audience to laugh with her. At perhaps the most significant public moment of her life, something terrible was happening to her, something beyond her control, and she handled it with humor and grace. I think that's because as a Christian she finds her identity in something so much more precious than in her appearance as a bride, beautiful as she was. I know that she had experienced the grace of God in her salvation and many other times in life. At this most important moment during her wedding day, she was able to respond to difficulty with that same grace from God and give it to all who were gathered there today. Beautiful.
She recovered quickly. The crowd cheered when I pronounced them man and wife. They cheered again more loudly when I introduced them as husband and wife for the first time. The party afterward was spectacular. The dance floor was full the entire time. And she and her new husband greeted everyone during the party and laughed and continued to display the goodness and grace of God.
Yes, she fainted at the altar. Twice. And it was a perfectly beautiful wedding.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Why I Look Up to My Brother Jeff
Why do I look up to my older brother Jeff? Lots of reasons, really.
First of all, he's a great husband and father. He's been married for almost 20 years and has 7 great kids. Second, he works hard. He builds things like subdivisions and houses and lakes. Third, he is a great water skier. He's even pretty good at snow skiing (not as good as me, but still pretty good).
Recently, Jeff gave me another reason to look up to him. He bought a box of show-quality fireworks from a guy named Vito in Kansas City. These were the kind of fireworks that you're supposed to have a license to light. Somehow, Vito overlooked the fact that Jeff doesn't actually have one of those licenses. So this past Saturday night, Jeff hosted an awesome fireworks display for his family and friends at his new lake near Rhineland, Missouri.
Here's Jeff with his box of fireworks. Jeff is the smiling fool on the right in the yellow shirt.
Next are some of Jeff's glorious fireworks.
Ooooh. Ahhh.
Red, white and blue. So patriotic.
And now just red. Blood red. Yes, that blood is from the flesh wounds he received when he lit the wrong fuse and two Chinese fireballs blasted him in the forehead. That'll leave a mark.
Why is his shirt wet, you ask? Because once he realized that his hair was on fire, he dunked his fool head in his brand new lake.
Today there are black spots on his face and forehead filled with gunpowder residue. No joke.
Praise the Lord that the fireballs missed his eyes when they bounced off his forehead.
The emergency room doctor just happened to be Chinese. After doing a quick CT scan on my brilliant brother's brain to ensure that all of the really important parts were still working, the doctor asks, "Mr. Kelly, do you want to know what those Chinese characters on your fireworks said?" "Sure," says Jeff. The doctor replies, "Do not light."
Just one more reason why I still look up to my big brother Jeff.
First of all, he's a great husband and father. He's been married for almost 20 years and has 7 great kids. Second, he works hard. He builds things like subdivisions and houses and lakes. Third, he is a great water skier. He's even pretty good at snow skiing (not as good as me, but still pretty good).
Recently, Jeff gave me another reason to look up to him. He bought a box of show-quality fireworks from a guy named Vito in Kansas City. These were the kind of fireworks that you're supposed to have a license to light. Somehow, Vito overlooked the fact that Jeff doesn't actually have one of those licenses. So this past Saturday night, Jeff hosted an awesome fireworks display for his family and friends at his new lake near Rhineland, Missouri.
Here's Jeff with his box of fireworks. Jeff is the smiling fool on the right in the yellow shirt.
Next are some of Jeff's glorious fireworks.
Ooooh. Ahhh.
Red, white and blue. So patriotic.
And now just red. Blood red. Yes, that blood is from the flesh wounds he received when he lit the wrong fuse and two Chinese fireballs blasted him in the forehead. That'll leave a mark.
Why is his shirt wet, you ask? Because once he realized that his hair was on fire, he dunked his fool head in his brand new lake.
Today there are black spots on his face and forehead filled with gunpowder residue. No joke.
Praise the Lord that the fireballs missed his eyes when they bounced off his forehead.
The emergency room doctor just happened to be Chinese. After doing a quick CT scan on my brilliant brother's brain to ensure that all of the really important parts were still working, the doctor asks, "Mr. Kelly, do you want to know what those Chinese characters on your fireworks said?" "Sure," says Jeff. The doctor replies, "Do not light."
Just one more reason why I still look up to my big brother Jeff.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
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